This invention relates generally to infant activity centers, and more particularly to electronic infant activity centers.
Activity centers provide infants with many developmental benefits. This is true even if an infant cannot physically interact with the activity center. In this case, infants can receive audio and visual stimulation using activity centers that can be set in motion either manually or automatically.
As the infant develops, the infant will increase his (or her) physical interaction with the activity center. This physical interaction further encourages the development of physical attributes such as hand-eye coordination, range of motion, etc. Most conventional activity centers are designed to encourage interaction with the infant""s hands. Here, effective activity-center designs enable infants to interact with the activity center with minimal directed hand coordination. More recent activity center designs have now begun to incorporate interactive elements that interact with an infant""s feet.
An activity center is disclosed that includes a first section and a second section. In one embodiment, a removable connection between the first section and the second section enables detection of infant activity by an actuator in the first section to produce sensible output in the second section. In another embodiment, a connection between a first section that includes a support frame capable of supporting an infant enables detection of infant activity by an actuator in one of the sections to produce sensible output in the other section.